PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Hermes Franco (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mohammed Abdul (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Franco
vs
Abdul

195 cm
25
285 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

225 cm
22
300 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Hermes Franco!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mohammed Abdul!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Matheus Silva and Luis Engracia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Franco lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Franco could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Abdul has his takedown stuffed
and Franco counters with a good low kick that Abdul was not able to check.
Abdul fails with the takedown

and Franco counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Franco won't allow Abdul to get back to his feet.
Abdul looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Franco gets to his feet - Abdul follows without any prompting.
Franco lands a nice hook to Abdul's body. Abdul takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

Franco clinches.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Franco throws a knee to the head but misses.

Franco breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Franco moves into the clinch.
Abdul is working for takedown but Franco is calmly controlling the position for now.
Hermes Franco has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mohammed Abdul.
Abdul tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

Franco pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Franco tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Abdul tries for a takedown but Franco circles away easily

and Franco moves into the clinch.

Franco breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Franco closes the distance and pushes Abdul back into the cage.
Abdul avoiding damage.
Franco tries for a takedown. No joy.
Abdul avoiding damage as Franco throws knees to the body.
Franco trying to stall but Abdul improves his position.

Franco pulls guard successfully.
Franco wants to improve his position but instead Abdul has moved into half guard.
Abdul is trying to control the action in half guard but Franco is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Franco is trying to stand.
Franco is trying to maintain the position but Abdul is very close to passing his half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Abdul decides to stand and escape the position.
Abdul with a lazy takedown attempt
and Franco counters with a big head kick but Abdul shrugs it off.
Abdul looks gassed!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abdul misses with a takedown
and Franco counters with a straight right hand.

Abdul gets tackled into the cage by Franco. Franco maintains the clinch.
Franco wants a takedown.
Abdul prevents the takedown attempt.
Abdul tries to pull guard but Franco holds him up against the cage and eventually Abdul drops back down to his feet.

Abdul pulls guard.
Abdul trying to control the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Abdul wants to sweep but no luck.
Franco trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Abdul is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Abdul preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Abdul manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Franco manages to get himself to full guard.
Abdul in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Franco is trying to keep Abdul in close.
Abdul stays in close to Franco's body and controls the position.
Abdul slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Abdul passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Franco!
Abdul can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Franco is looking to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franco knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Abdul on the ground.
Franco really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Abdul controlling his opponent.
Abdul can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Franco is looking to escape.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hermes Franco dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Abdul fails with the takedown
and Abdul takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Hermes Franco seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Good standup being displayed there by Franco as he connects with a hook.
Franco throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Hermes Franco is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Franco throws a sloppy head kick and Abdul moves out of range easily.
Franco pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Abdul circles away from the clinch attempt

and Abdul counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Franco!
Franco is working to get back to half guard.
Franco wants to try and get back to his feet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Abdul can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Franco is looking to escape.
Abdul raining down shots from the mount!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franco is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
A nice elbow there by Abdul.
Franco tries to reverse the position but Abdul maintains control.
Franco is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.

Abdul looking for a guillotine from mount but Franco is having none of it.
Abdul can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Franco is looking to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Abdul has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Franco's face.
Franco is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Abdul controlling the position easily from mount.
Franco slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Abdul scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Abdul missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Abdul wants to pass the guard but Franco is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franco is looking for a sweep. Abdul is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Abdul trying to control the action but Franco is working from the bottom.
Franco is trying to get back to full guard.
Abdul content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Abdul is trying to control the action in half guard but Franco is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Mohammed Abdul was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Abdul shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Franco cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Franco throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Abdul takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Franco throws a leg kick which misses Abdul's front leg but catches the back leg as Abdul tries to avoid it.

Franco fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Abdul, pushing him back against the cage.
Abdul dodges an elbow strike from Franco.
Abdul tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Hermes Franco has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mohammed Abdul.

Franco breaks the clinch.
Abdul with a lazy takedown attempt
letting Franco counter with a right hand.
Abdul fails with the takedown
and Franco counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Franco tries to clinch there but Abdul circles away.
A head kick misses from Franco.
Abdul shoots and misses

and Franco counters with a single leg into guard. Abdul didn't expect that.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Abdul is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Abdul keeping moving, preventing Franco from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Hermes Franco will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Abdul avoids the head kick by Franco.
Franco misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Franco scores with a shot to the body.
Abdul has his takedown stuffed

and Franco moves into the clinch.
Abdul on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Abdul fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Abdul is trying to break free.
Abdul is trying to break the clinch but Franco has him pressed against the cage.
Abdul stops a takedown attempt from Franco.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Abdul is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Hermes Franco has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mohammed Abdul.
Franco missing with knees to the body.
Abdul is trying to break the clinch but Franco is controlling him.

Franco breaks the clinch.
Franco scores with a hook to the body. Abdul takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Abdul misses with a takedown attempt

and Franco counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Franco.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franco misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Abdul.

Franco pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Franco throws a head kick that misses.
Franco throws a head kick that misses.
Abdul gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Franco counters with a nice low kick that buckles Abdul's knee momentarily.
Abdul avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Franco tries to clinch there but Abdul circles away.
Abdul shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Franco counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Abdul has his takedown stuffed
and Franco counters with an outside leg kick.
Franco throws a nice outside leg kick.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Franco, right into the meat.
Franco moves in looking to clinch but Abdul pushes him off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Franco moves into range and clinches up with Abdul.
Abdul is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Franco is defending well for now.
Abdul fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.

Abdul breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Abdul avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Franco lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Abdul fails with the takedown

and Franco counters with a nice double leg into side control. Abdul won't be happy with that.
Franco sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Abdul is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Abdul can't do much from the bottom here.
Abdul is looking to regain half guard here but Franco keeps moving and retains side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franco in side control lands a decent elbow.
Abdul is not content to let Franco control the position.

Abdul explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!

Franco throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Abdul tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Franco is in Abdul's guard.
Franco working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Abdul trying to keep a closed guard but Franco is proving a slippery customer.
Franco in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Abdul kicks Franco off and gets to his feet.
Franco scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Abdul misses with a takedown
and Franco counters with a good low kick that Abdul was not able to check.
Abdul has his takedown stuffed

and Franco decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Abdul's guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Franco in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Abdul looking for a sweep. Not yet Abdul, not yet.
Mohammed Abdul has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hermes Franco is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Franco pushes down on Abdul's leg and manages to get into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hermes Franco showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Franco has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:27
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hermes Franco!